Observatori researcher Martijn Vlaskamp (IBEI), invited Wang Zhanpeng (Beijing Foreign Studies University) to IBEI to present his work on China’s perceptions of the EU’s Global Gateway, an initiative that is commonly charactarised as a response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Professor Wang noted that both initiatives could be perceived as politically or economically oriented. He also observed potential complementarity between them, with the EU Global Gateway focusing on “soft” infrastructure, while its Chinese counterpart focuses on “hard” infrastructure.
Subsequently, the principal researcher from the Observatori-SGR, professor Esther Barbé (UAB-IBEI), moderated the debate and raised questions about key concepts, such as the Chinese notion of a harmonious world. Meanwhile, Dr. Alejandra Peña (UAB) was responsible for discussing the main points raised by Professor Wang.